Chapter 966: An Unexpected Contact

Just as when he arrived, Gawain once again relied on Heragor’s near-spatial teleportation power to leave the Upper Sanctuary perched high in the mountains. As the faint golden light gradually faded, he and the high-ranking Dragon Priest found themselves standing on a platform halfway up the mountainside.

The place was illuminated by grand, magnificent holographic projections and neon lights that glowed everywhere. At the edge of the plaza, Gawain spotted Melita Penita already waiting, accompanied by Amber and Veronica standing nearby.

They must have been notified in advance to come here and wait.

“Looks like your friends have been waiting for you,” Heragor said, glancing back at Gawain. “I’ll leave you here, then.”

With that, the Dragon Priest’s form began to ripple with layers of pale golden light. But before his figure completely faded, Gawain couldn’t help but speak up.

“Mr. Heragor—”

Heragor paused. “Go ahead.”

“Do you remember anything from before you became a Dragon Priest?”

“Sorry, it’s been too long.”

As the golden glow in the night sky dissipated, the high-ranking Dragon Priest vanished entirely from Gawain’s sight.

Melita and the others quickly approached from nearby. Amber was the first to reach Gawain, her eyes wide. “Hey! You were gone for a really long time this time! What did you two talk about? Oh, and did you notice the huge wind outside just now? There was even a thunderstorm on the mountain for a while. Too bad I wasn’t at Melita’s place to see it…”

Gawain glanced at the so-called “shame of the empire” and suddenly smiled. “…We talked about a lot of things. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back. As for the wind, I did hear something.”

“…So mysterious,” Amber muttered. “I was just discussing with Veronica whether you might have been kidnapped by that Dragon God. I even planned out your escape route…”

Veronica immediately shot Amber a stern look. “Miss Amber, please watch your words.”

Melita, meanwhile, looked Gawain up and down with admiration. “I rarely see anyone who can hold a conversation with Mr. Heragor like that… I saw you actively engaging with the high priest just now.”

Gawain only smiled, saying nothing.

They headed toward the plaza’s exit. Melita’s residence was on the other side of the slope. But before stepping onto the path leading to Melita’s dragon’s nest, Gawain couldn’t help but look up again at the star-studded Arctic night sky.

The stars twinkled in his field of vision. Even though Talrond was always shrouded in layers of artificial light, this ubiquitous “light pollution” hadn’t completely obscured the stars above the Arctic night. It was only now that Gawain realized how unusual this was. His gaze toward the night sky carried a mixture of wonder and contemplation.

This was no ordinary optical phenomenon. From what he had recently learned, it didn’t seem to be a special feature of Talrond’s great protective shield either. To see such a bright starry sky in the most brilliantly lit districts of the dragon kingdom… behind this seemingly unremarkable “view” lay what appeared to be a miracle that had lasted for millions of years.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” Amber noticed Gawain’s gaze and bounced over, looking up at the sky alongside him. “Is there something there… just stars?”

Gawain looked at her and saw the Talrond stars reflected in her amber eyes. The half-elf’s face was full of curiosity and a carefree smile, which made him smile in return.

“Amber… have you ever felt like the land we live on sometimes feels a little… cramped?”

…

Heragor returned to the sanctuary hall, which shimmered with sacred light. He saw the elegant golden-haired figure standing quietly in the center. The tables, chairs, and refreshments once used to entertain guests were gone, but the high platform and throne that usually stood there were absent as well. The deity stood alone in the empty hall, seemingly lost in thought, gazing at some infinitely distant place.

Faced with this scene, Heragor bowed his head and quickly approached the Dragon God.

“My Lord, the human has left the sanctuary.”

“Heragor,” the deity said without turning, voice calm and measured, “how long have you served as my priest?”

“…I do not recall the exact details.”

“This is an order.”

“…One million eight hundred seventy thousand, two hundred twelve years.”

“Is that so… quite a long time,” the Dragon God said lightly. “Have you ever thought about ending it all?”

For the first time, Heragor responded with silence.

But the deity seemed unconcerned. After a moment of quiet, it suddenly spoke, seemingly without preamble.

“I spoke with that human about many things, many… things I should not have discussed with others. It has left me somewhat weary.”

Heragor looked up slightly. “Do you require rest?”

The Dragon God did not answer. Instead, it raised its gaze toward the resplendent dome of the hall, its eyes seeming to pierce through the layers of illusions and reliefs, looking far, far away.

After a long silence, it finally whispered, “Heragor, when the dragons fly through the sky today, do they still feel… cramped?”

…

The lights in Gawain’s bedroom gradually dimmed until they settled at a level that allowed him to see in the dark without disturbing his rest. He sat on a low couch covered with some synthetic fabric, stretching out and leaning back against the soft cushion, allowing his tense mind to slowly relax.

Talking with a god… Although everything seemed to have gone smoothly, the sheer volume of information and the constant mental strain had been overwhelming—even for Gawain. Only now did he finally have a chance to unwind and seriously consider the vast intelligence he had just received from the Dragon God, sorting through it to find useful and reliable details.

Logically, he believed the Dragon God had no reason to deceive him; the information should be trustworthy. But from a rigorous standpoint, he still needed to carefully verify it. After all, gods and mortals viewed the world and thought about things differently. The details the Dragon God focused on might not be useful to mortals. Moreover… Gawain had long understood one thing:

In this world, gods are neither omniscient nor omnipotent.

The Dragon God’s conversation might have been sincere, but what it knew wasn’t necessarily entirely correct—especially regarding the mysterious “Voyagers.” That part was clearly shrouded in riddles and confusion.

Lost in thought, Gawain suddenly raised his eyes and glanced around the room he had been staying in for several days.

This residence was completely different from any building on the continent of Loren, and unlike any house from his past life’s memories. It was a place where dragons rested in human form, filled with incomprehensible, advanced technology far beyond its time. Behind the automated household systems lurked a true “artificial intelligence.” Behind every silver-white wall flickering with faint lights seemed to hide cold, mechanical eyes. This was not easy for Gawain to get used to.

Living in this so-called “living” building always made him feel uneasy.

In this regard, Amber and Veronica seemed more at ease than he was—Amber still hadn’t quite grasped what “strong AI” or “controlled intelligent residence” meant, so she was having a blast every day. Veronica… her alienated mind was perhaps no longer purely human. She seemed completely unbothered by living under the watchful gaze of an AI for a few days.

A few scattered thoughts flashed through Gawain’s mind. He shook his head, preparing to force himself to ignore Omega’s presence for the time being. But just then, a strange flash caught his eye.

The light came from the corner of the room, where a device terminal—apparently used to regulate temperature, humidity, and airflow—stood. It looked like a square pillar over a meter tall. But on its crystal display, which normally showed environmental data, many numbers flickered erratically, as if disturbed. Bright white lines swept repeatedly across the screen.

Gawain sat up and cautiously approached the device. He tapped the pillar’s surface with his fingers, muttering quietly, “Is this thing broken?”

He wasn’t sure if the “45-degree angle tap repair method” commonly used on Earth would work in this strange, otherworldly, cyberpunk place… or maybe just kick it?

He wondered if Melita would mind.

Just as this bold thought crossed his mind, the flickering lines on the device suddenly stopped. The chaotic data refreshed line by line, and after a few reorganizations, the scattered white noise formed clear, sharp words:

“Hello.”

Gawain’s expression instantly turned serious. He froze in place.

The letters remained crisp and clear on the crystal interface, written in the common human script of the Loren continent. The sender seemed patient; even though Gawain didn’t respond, the symbols waited calmly.

After a full thirty seconds, Gawain finally broke the silence.

“Who are you?”

“Omega is speaking with you.”

Gawain’s eyes fixed on the tiny screen no larger than a palm, but his face showed little surprise.

The moment those letters appeared, he had already considered this possibility.

All of Talrond was controlled by the vast artificial intelligence Omega. The Omega network connected every device terminal on the continent—everything from the dragons’ minds to every smart appliance in their homes.

Therefore, aside from possible “super administrators,” the only entity capable of directly intervening in these devices and communicating with him outside the usual protocols was Omega itself.

“Omega…” Gawain said calmly. “I thought you were just a ‘service program’ for Talrond. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised.”

“Omega is the service program of the dragons and the manager of Talrond,” the letters on the screen refreshed rapidly, carrying a mechanical coldness and logic. “Correction made accordingly.”

Gawain had no interest in wasting energy quibbling over semantics with an AI. He asked in a low voice, “Why are you contacting me? And… why in this way?”

“Omega attempted to establish contact with you through its usual methods but failed. You lack the necessary hardware foundation and cannot directly receive Omega’s system calls. More conspicuous contact methods would cause unnecessary resource consumption. Considering all factors, contacting you in this form at this time is the most reasonable solution.”

Necessary hardware foundation?

Gawain paused, then realized the AI was referring to the “resonance core” present in every dragon’s brain. Obviously, as a human, he couldn’t establish contact with Omega through that method.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the messages from Omega began to refresh again:

“The purpose of this contact… is for the sake of communication.”

Gawain raised an eyebrow. “Communication?”

“Omega has been observing you.”

Seeing the words appear on the screen, Gawain instinctively wanted to bring up the issue of personal privacy. But then he quickly reminded himself of this AI’s routine operations and the system protocols it had been following for millions of years. Arguing about privacy seemed pointless. So, instead of pressing the matter, he shifted gears: “What exactly have you been observing about me?”

“Language, actions, logic, many aspects. Tal’Rond rarely sees outsiders, so every visitor is a valuable subject for observation. This time, Tal’Rond has received three visitors. According to system analysis, your behavior patterns are the most worthy of study, so you have been designated a primary observation target.”

Reading the steady stream of text, Gawain was momentarily speechless. A wry smile tugged at his lips—he was pretty sure Omega could “see” that expression, just as it could “hear” his voice. In this small room, countless sensory devices under Omega’s control were silently at work. “Alright then, primary observation target it is… So, after all this watching, do you have something you want to say to me? Or any questions you want to ask?”

“Omega wishes to know: what is the meaning of life?”

Gawain: “…”

At that moment, he didn’t know what expression to wear. The whole scene felt utterly surreal. He’d already witnessed enough strange things since arriving in this so-called dragon realm, yet the oddities kept coming one after another. After discussing how to “unbind” from a god with an actual deity, now here was a super AI wanting to debate philosophy with him?

And on a question so familiar it felt like déjà vu…

(End of chapter)